Calculating device



7, 1945- R. w. DAVNIELSON 2,381,424

CALCULATING DEVICE Filed Aug. 9, 1943 4 Sheets-Sheet l 2,3&l,424

R. w. DANIELSQN CALCULATING DEVICE Filed Aug. 9, 1943 4 Sheets-Sheet 2R, w. DANIELSON CALCULATING DEVICE 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Aug. 9, 19431945' R. w. DANlEiLtaON CALCULATING DEVICE Filed Aug. 9, 19415 4Sheets-Sheet 4 w ff'orvzey Patented Aug. 7, 1945 UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE CALCULATING DEVICE Raymond W. Danielson, Chicago, 11!.

Application August 9, 1943, Serial No. 497,925

Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in a calculating or selectiveindicating device, and refers specifically to a device for use ininstantly determining the number of characters, or letters, of anyprinting type face that will fit within a specified measure or length.

It is one of the particular objects of my invention to provide a devicewhich will permit printers or typesetters to readily determine thenumber of characters of different styles of type face which may beincluded within a line or a definite space to be printed, Heretofore,the customary procedure was for typesetters to use measuring sticks orrulers in setting up type of different sizes, which is laborious andtime consuming B a simple manipulation of my device such calculationsmay be automatically determined without the use of such measuringsticks. Further, by manipulation of my selective indicating device,character counts of all type faces between the range of four charactersper pica to three-tenths of a characterper pica may be obtained.

Other objects, advantages and important aspects of the invention,including details of construction and arrangement of parts, will beapparent from the following specification and ac companying drawings,wherein:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of my calculating device.

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 22 of Fig. 5 showing theoperating mechanism.

Fig. 3 is a further cross-sectional view taken on the line 33 of Fig. 5showing the releasing mechanism.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary rear view of my device with parts shown insection.

Fig. 5 is a top plan View of my device.

Fig. 6 is a detailed sectional view of the tripping mechanism forlocking the calculating chart at a predetermined position.

Fig. 7 is a detailed sectional View of the mechanism for releasing thecalculating drum.

Fig. 8 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 88 of Fig, 1 with partsbeing broken away in section.

Fig. 9 is a plan view of the cylindrical chart.

Figs. 10 and 10A are detailed sectional views taken on the line I0-I 0of Fig. 11.

Fig. 11 is asectional view taken on the line III I ofFig. 2.

Figs. 12 and 13 are detailed views of the bumper plates for locking thecalculator in position.

Fig. 14 is a detailed front face View of one of the locking pins.

Fig. 15 is a detailed side view of the pin shown in Fig. 14. 1

Referring more in detail to the drawings, the mechanism of my calculatormay be encompassed within a housing generally designated by thereference numeral I, and comprising a front wall 2, side walls 3 and 4,a rear wall 5, a top keyboard section I, and a face plate 6 extendingbetween the front wall 2 and the keyboard I.

A drum 8 is mounted within the housing I, adjacent to and concentricwith the arcuate portion of face plate 6 to permit indicia carriedthereon to be viewed through the elongated slot or sight aperture 20 inthe face plate 6. Referring to Fig. 8, the drum 8! is rotatablypositioned between the side walls 3 and 4 by means of the stub shafts 9and H3 associated therewith. The shaft 9 has a tapered end II extendingaxially into the drum 8 through a bushing I2, the latter having anintegral collar on the outer extremity thereof. Peripherally spaced pinsI2, protruding from the collar of bushing I2, may extend into the sideWall of the drum 8 when formed of wood, or may be associated in anyother suitable manner. The bushing I2, forming a sleeve for the shaft 9,may extend through another bushing I3, the latter of which extendsthrough an opening in the side wall 3 and may be, aflixed thereto bymean of locknuts I 4. The flanged inner end of bushing l3 will abut thecollar I2 and tend to keep the latter in spaced relation with respect tothe side wall 3. A hand-knob I5 is threadedly engaged with the otherextremity of bushing I2 and is further secured thereto by means of alocknut I6. The shaft 9 is threadedly secured within the outer-extremityof bushin I2 and is further secured thereto by means of the locknut 9.

The other side of the drum 8 may be likewise rotatably supported bymeans of the shaft l0 protruding through the flanged bushing I I lockedto the side wall 4 by means of a nut I8, while a locknut It may hold theshaft I0 in fixed position. The inner extremity of shaft II) may bepointed, as indicated 2!, for registration with a conically shapedindentation in the axis of the drum 8, or otherwise associated therewithto permit free rotation. A clock-type or fiat coil spring 22 is anchoredat its core to the bushing I1 while the other end thereof is fastened toa side of the drum 8 by means of a pin 23. When horizontal adjustment ofthe drum 8 is desired for proper registration, the locknuts 9' and I9may be loosened on the shafts 9 and I 6, respectively, and the lattermay then be screwed in an inward or out- Ward direction depending on theadjustment deof lever 30 at the point 3|.

sired, after which the locknuts may be again tightened.

Although the foregoing illustrates my preferred form of construction soas to permit the drum 8 to be horizontally adjusted by means of theaforesaid associated nuts, it will be understood that various suitablemeans for rotatably mounting and supporting the drum may be employed.

By means of the foregoing arrangement, the drum 8 may be rotated bymanipulation of the hand-knob to a locked position and in so doing willwind or place the spring 22 under tension. Upon release, the spring willrotate the drum back to a predetermined position, as will be later morefully explained.

Referring now to Fig. 2, a plurality of keys 24 may be provided inspaced parallel relation in the upper face 1 of the calculator. Inasmuchas the operation of all of the keys, and mechanism associated therewith,is identical, the following description of the operation of one of thekeys will suffice for the remainder. Key 24, having a shank 25 isconnected to a rod 26 by means of a flanged nut 21. A bushing 26 isthreadedly engaged in the upper face 1 and acts as a sleeve for theshank 25 and as a stop to the upward movement of the rod 26 whencontacted by the flanged nut 21. The lower end of the rod 26 extendsthrough an aperture provided in a cross bar 29 and contacts the upwardlyextending arm The lever 30 is pivotally connected to a cross rod 32substantially in the center thereof. A stud 33, bifurcated at one end,as shown more clearly at 34 in Figs. and 14, straddles the bar 30 and isconnected thereto by means of a rivet 35 associated with a notch 36 inthe upper corner of the downwardly extending arm of lever 30. The top ofthe stud 33 may be provided with a flanged head 31 which acts as a stopto the movement of the apparatus, as will be later more fully described.The shank of the stud 33 extends through a, registering opening 38 in across member 39, and is held in suspension therein by means of theflanged head 31. In normal position, the top of the head 31 will beflush with the surface of the cross member 39.

The key 24, and connecting apparatus, will be held in normal position bymeans of a coil spring 46, which will tend to force the key upward,together with a tension spring 4| connected between the lower arm oflever 30 and cross member 66. The spring 4| will urge the lever 30 in adownward inclined position and the upper arm of the lever, beingfrictionally engaged with the rod 26, will tend to push it upward inassistance to the spring 40.

As will be noted from the illustrations, the various key associated rods26 are suitably offset intermediate their lengths so that they may allextend in alignment through the cross bar 29. Likewise, for convenience,one-half of the levers 3|] are provided with a longer lower lever armwhereby their associated studs 33 and flanged stop heads 31 extend intwo parallel rows in the cross member 39.

A slide member or cam follower 42 is embraceably engaged to the slidebase or cross member 39 for longitudinal sliding engagement thereon. Thefollower 42 may comprise two sections 43 and 44, which are bolted orotherwise suitably fastened together, with an inner strip or gasket 45therebetween. The center of section 44 is provided with a groove 46 forembracing engagement with the member 39 and is further provided withinwardly tapering flanges 41 conforming with the contour of taperedindentations in the lower side walls of the cross member 39, whichconfines the cam follower 42 on across member 39 and permits horizontalslidable engagement therewith.

The section 43 may be provided with two grooves 48 substantially in" thecenter thereof and of a slightly larger width than the flanged head 31for reception of the latter. Similar grooves 49 are provided in thegasket 45, but of a slightly narrower width, which'will permit receptionof the shank of stud 33 therein. Thus, when a stud 33 is raised abovethe surface of the cross member 39, and the cam follower 42 is releasedand slidably impelled along the cross member 39, the flanged head ofstop 31 will enter the aperture provided by the groove 48 and will stopthe forward motion of the cam follower when it contacts the terminal ofthe groove. At the same time the aperture 49, provided in the gasket 45,will envelope the shank of the stud 33, permitting the flanged head 31to ride thereover, and will act as a stay to hold the head 31 in raisedposition. When the cam follower 42 is returned to its normal position,by means which will be later described, the head 31 will slide throughthe grooves 48 and 49 and when free of association therewith will besnapped back into the opening 38 by means of the springs 46 and 4|, andthe top of the head will be flush with the surface of the cross member39.

Referring to Figs. 8 and 9, a cam strip 50 is disposed helically aroundapproximately half of the drum. 8. A chart 5|, containing lines ofpreculcula'ted indicia, is disposed around approximately the remaininghalf of the drum 8 and is positioned for registration with the elongatedslot or sight aperture 20 in the face plate 6 when the drum is rotatedand stopped at a predetermined point. The cam strip 59 is associatedwith the cam follower 42 by means of two rounded studs 52 superimposedin spaced relation on the top of the follower 42 substantially in thecenter thereof, and in straddling engagement with the cam strip. Thus,when the strip 5|] is rotated by the drum 8 the two studs 52 willfrictionally engage the strip and will slide the cam follower ,42horizontally along the cross member 39 until it comes in contact with aprotruding head 31 which will stop the forward movement thereof.

Referring now to Figs. 3 and '7, wherein is shown the release mechanismof my invention, a key 53 is provided in the face 1 of the calculator,having a shank 54 which is pivotally connected to the lower end of alever 55. A bushing 56 is threadedly engaged in the upper face 1 andacts as a sleeve for the shank 54 and as a stop to the upward movementof the lever 55. The upper end of lever 55 is pivotally connected at 51to a rod 58 which in turn has pivotal association with a lever 59 at thelower end thereof. The lever 59 may be pivotally connected to the sidewall of the housing at 60 and is provided with an inclined bifurcatedsection 6| at the lower end thereof. The tines of the bifurcated section6| straddle a studded member 62, the head of the latter of whichprotrudes upward and enters an aligned slot in the cross member 39. Thestud 62 is provided with a collar 63 which acts as a stop to the upwardmovement of the stud when the collar comes in contact with the member39. The collar 63, together with pins 64 extending from both sides ofthe member 62, define the bifurcated section 6| and will be actuatedthereby upon movement of the lever 59. The stud 62 will be maintained ina normal raised position within the cross member 39 by means of a coilspring 65 positioned between the cross bar 66 and a collar 61intermediate the length of the stud 62 which will tendto urge the studupward into the registering recess provided in the cross member 39. Theupward tension on the key 53 will be further augmented by means of thespring 68 positioned intermediate the top of .the bushing 56 and thebottom of the key.

The top of the stud 62 is tapered inwardly so that one edge lies flushwith the top of the cross member 39 and the other edge will protrudethereover. When it is desired to bring the cam follower 42 to a lockedposition at one end of the cross member 39, the drum 8 is rotated in acounterclockwise direction by means of the hand-knob l and will slidethe cam follower 42 along the cross member 39 by means of the helicalcam strip 50, in association with the studs 52, until the followerreaches the studded member 62. Upon further urging the gasket strip 45will slide over the lower edge of the tapered top of stud 52 and willforce it downward until the apex thereof is flush with the top of thecross member 39, whereupon the strip 45 will pass thereover until itreaches the recess 69 and the stud 62, being under tension,'will springupward into the recess and thereby hold the cam follower 42 in lockedposition. When the drum is in the position just described it will beready for operation for the purpose of obtaining a calculation.

Having described the component elements entering into the constructionof my device I will now more fully describe the relation and operationthereof. When a typesetter desires to determine the number ofcharacters, or letters, of any type face, that will fit in a specifiedmeasure or length, he will first consult a pre-calculated chart (notshown) wherein the type faces in different sizes are listed, along withthe key numerals-on the calculator. When the proper key number of aspecified type face is found on the chart the operator will press thedesignated key on the calculator, each of the keys having differentidentifying numerals.

Upon pressing a, selected key 24, the rod 26 will be forced downwardlythrough the cross bar 29, which in turn will push the upwardly extendingarm of lever 30 in a downward direction and by means of the pivot 32will raise the downwardly extending arm of lever 39 upwardly, forcingthe stud 33 through the registering opening 38 in the cross member 39.The flanged head or stop 31 will then protrude over the surface of thecross member 39 and act as a stop to the forward movement of the camfollower 42 when it comes in contact therewith.

While the operator is holding the key 24 in depressed position he willthen press the key- 53 which will actuate the lever 55, rod 58 and lever59 to lower the bifurcated section 6| which, through frictionalengagement with the pins 64, will force the stud 62 downward until thehead thereof is out of engagement with the cam follower 42 and thelatter is then freely slidable along the cross member 39. Upon releaseof the cam follower 42, the spring 22, being under tension, will rotatethe drum 8 in a clockwise direction together with the helical cam strip58 attached thereto. As the strip 50 rotates it will run between the twostuds 52, superimposed upon the follower 42, and will urge the latterforward along the cross member!!! until the flanged head 31 enters oneof the grooves 48 and stops the forwardmotion of the follower and therotation of the drum 8. a

When the rotationof the drum 8 hasbeen stopped at a definite position, asection of the chart 5|, which ismounted on the back of the drum, willbe visible through the elongated slot 20 in the face plate 6. In thisposition, the chart will show one row of character counts aligned with ascale containing pica measurements on the face plate 6 contiguous to theslot 20. The divisions on the scale line up with the divisions on thechart and the character count for the measure specified will be readilyobtainable by reference thereto. When the operator has ob tained hiscalculation, the chart 5| may be brought back to normal position byrotating the hand-knob 15 in a counter-clockwise direction until the camfollower 42 contacts the stud 52- and is locked thereby as heretoforedescribed.

Although my invention has been illustrated and described in connectionwith typesetting calculations, it will be understood that it can be usedin connection with other calculations merely by changing the indicia onthe chart, and that various changes in theform' or details ofconstruction and arrangement of parts may be resorted to withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of my invention; hence, I do notwish to limit myself strictly to the structure herein set forth, exceptas embraced by the following claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. The combination with a spring driven in-- mm. carrying drum in adevice of the class described, of cam means carried by said drum; afollower element retained for slidable movement parallel to the axis ofsaid drum and being in slidable engagement with said cam means, meansfor placing the drum under the tension of its spring and for causing thefollower element to be locked adjacent one end of the drum, releasemeans for permitting the drum to rotate under the action of the springand to thereby move said follower, and stop means projectable into thepath of said follower to limit the movement thereof to a predeterminedposition.

2. The combination with a spring driven indicia carrying drum in adevice of the class described, of a follower element in engagement witha slide support positioned adjacent to and parallel with said drum, aplurality of stop means each selectively projectable into the path ofsaid follower longitudinally of said support to limit the movement ofthe follower, helical cam means extending over one-half the periphery ofsaid drum and in slidable engagement with said follower, means forplacing the drum under the tension of its spring and for causing thefollower element to be locked adjacent one end of the drum, means forreleasing the follower to permit rotation of the drum under the actionof the spring and to longitudinally slide the engaged follower along itssupport to the limit of a selected one of said projecting stop means.

3. Ina selective indicating device of the'class described comprising ahousing formed with a sight aperture and having a drum rotatably mountedwithin said housing adjacent said sight aperture, lines of indiciacarried by one-half the peripheral surface of the drum, helical cammeans extending across the opposed half thereof, spring means fordriving said drum, means for placing it under the tension of said springand lock means for holding it under said tension, lock release means forpermitting the drum to rotate under the action of the spring, a camfollower in slidable engagement with said cam means and with a slideextending adjacent to and parallel with said drum whereby the followerupon rotation of the drum is caused to move longitudinally of saidslide, and a plurality of selective stop means spaced in associationwith said slide adapted to be projected from the surface thereof intothe path of said follower to limit movement thereof, said stop meansbeing in operative association with key means on said housing wherebyactuation of a selected key will present a complementary line of indiciato view at said sight aperture.

4. A selective indicating device of the class described comprising ahousing formed with a sight aperture, a drum rotatably mounted withinsaid housing adjacent said sight aperture and A carrying indicia on thesurface thereof adapted to be selectively brought into view and align--ment in said aperture, spring means for driving said drum, a slideelement associated with a slide base for longitudinal movement in saidhousing parallel with said drum and adjacent thereto, a helical stripprojecting from said drum and operatively engaged to said slide element,means for placing the drum under the tension of its spring and forcausing the slide element to be locked adjacent one end of said slidebase, stop elements positioned adjacent said slide base and adapted tobe extended through apertures formed therein, depressible key means onsaid housing complementary to the indicia on said drum, link meansoperatively associating said keys with said stops whereby depression ofa selected key causes elevation of an associated stop into the path ofsaid slide element, and means for releasing the slide element from saidlocked position to permit it to come into abutment with a selected stopand to thereby bring a selected line of indicia into view to said sightaperture.

5. A selective indicating device of the class described comprising ahousing formed with a sight aperture, a drum rotatably mounted wlthinsaid housing adjacent said sight aperture and carrying lines of indiciaon one-half of the surface thereof adapted to be selectively broughtinto view and alignment in said aperture, spring means for driving saiddrum, a follower element associated With a slide base for longitudinalmovement in said housing parallel with said drum and adjacent thereto,an elongated helical cam projecting from and across the remaining halfof said drum surface and operatively engaged to said follower element,means for placing the drum under the tension of its spring and forcausing the follower element to be locked adjacent one end of said slidebase, stop elements positioned adjacent said slide base and adapted tobe extended from the surface thereof, depressible key means on saidhousing complementary to the indicia on said drum, link meansoperatively associating said keys with said-stops whereby depression ofa selected key causes elevation of an associated stop into the path ofsaid follower element, and means for releasing the follower element fromsaid locked position to permit it to come into abutment with a selectedstop and to thereby bring a selected line of indicia into view to saidsight aperture.

RAYMOND W. DANIELSON.

